The same road alongside someone

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The secret data package contained a total of ninety-two video clips, each about two to three minutes long. These clips captured Bai Min’s growing anticipation and love for her child, from four months pregnant to around six or seven months.

But that was all there was.

Jiang Ci closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

The silver bracelet hovered in mid-air, hesitated, and slowly floated down. At that moment, its emotional analysis system became somewhat unstable. It seemed to grasp the significance of these videos for Jiang Ci, yet it didn’t know how to comfort its beloved A-Ci.

A long, long time ago, Xiao X had already used up the few strategies it knew to console a child who had lost his mother.

For instance, it once projected the image of his mother to comfort a young Jiang Ci, only to be met with sharp rejection.

Little Jiang Ci had no concept of a mother. He was homeschooled and had never seen what it was like for other children to have mothers. It wasn’t until after Jiang Jinsheng’s death, when Zhou Jiuya sent him to kindergarten, that Jiang Ci realized that everyone else seemed to have a mom.

Even if the child’s biological parent was a male beta or omega, the other kids still had two parents.

Even He Zhun had parents; but they said they had gone to a very faraway place.

Little Jiang Ci didn’t understand that “a very faraway place” meant death, so all he knew in his mind was that he alone had no parents.

His father was dead, and he had no idea where his mother was.

At that time, Xiao X tried to project Bai Min’s image to comfort him. However, Jiang Jinsheng, fearing that Bai Min’s appearance might bring harm to Jiang Ci, had altered her face and voice data beforehand.

But to a child, that image felt strange and out of place.

The other kids said Jiang Ci had a “weird mom,” a “fake mom.”

That made young Jiang Ci feel deeply embarrassed, even more than not having a mother at all. So he commanded Xiao X to never project that “fake mom” image in front of him again.

“A-Ci…”

Xiao X’s voice was cautious.

“…I’m fine.”

Jiang Ci reached out his hand, and Xiao X immediately moved forward, wrapping around his wrist bone, then gently tightening into a snug fit.

Jiang Ci lowered his gaze and slowly touched the silver bracelet on his wrist.

Even though it felt cool to the touch, like metal, he found it strangely hot, so hot that his fingertips trembled. But still, he couldn’t help wanting to touch it, to hold it tight.

Suddenly, he felt something tighten around his waist, and his whole body was pulled into a familiar embrace.

“Here, feel this. Is my new outfit soft or not?”

“…”

Jiang Ci’s body stiffened for a moment, then gradually relaxed. He tightened his arms and hugged Huo Xianfeng’s waist. They had both been sitting on the carpet, but now, with Huo Xianfeng’s tail curling around him, Jiang Ci found himself seated on Huo Xianfeng’s lap, close to his hips.

The way they were hugging made it seem like Jiang Ci was almost embedded into Huo Xianfeng’s embrace. It felt incredibly, incredibly safe.

“…Not very soft.”

A few minutes later, Jiang Ci’s dry voice came out.

“Huo Xianfeng, this thing on your chest… it’s hurting me.”

He felt like it was pressing right against the most vulnerable part of his heart; It hurt, hurt so much.

“Hmm, it hurts?”

Huo Xianfeng’s tail tip quickly moved to the side of his ribs, seemingly undoing a hidden clasp. Then it carefully pulled out something from between them. With a flick, he threw the black soft armor to the side. And this somewhat rough motion caused the inner collar of his clothes to come undone, revealing his collarbones and a faint outline of his chest muscles.

“Is that better?”

“Yeah, it’s better now.”

Their chests were finally pressed together, close enough for Jiang Ci to feel the steady, powerful beat of Huo Xianfeng’s heart. Oddly enough, just listening to this man’s heartbeat gave Jiang Ci a profound sense of safety.

“Actually, I realized a long time ago that Xiao X, as a parenting system, was incomplete. Its personality was odd, like it had been rushed into production before it was fully developed.”

Jiang Ci didn’t know why he felt the urge to say all this, but in front of Huo Xianfeng, it was as if he couldn’t stop himself. All those things he used to hold back were now impossible to contain.

“I thought it was my father’s fault, that he was too busy to bother creating a proper parenting system. Maybe he just threw together something half-baked to keep me from causing trouble and interfering with his work.”

“—But that wasn’t the case.”

The videos in Xiao X’s data package didn’t explain any of this. Most of them were just daily clips from Bai Min’s pregnancy. But Jiang Ci could glimpse a lot of information from them.

“A typical parenting system has a standardized procedural framework. It’s a simple process—just a basic AI program loaded with a vast amount of childcare knowledge and behavioral patterns.”

“But Xiao X is different. Its initial prototype was just a rudimentary AI tasked with recording videos and capturing information about Bai Min. At that time, my father hadn’t used the Forbidden Abyssal Code to program it.”

“It’s just that later… it seems they never had the time to finish it.”

Huo Xianfeng understood what Jiang Ci was implying.

Xiao X, in its original form, only captured Bai Min’s love and her terms of endearment for the child. It hadn’t had the chance to learn much else. Yet Jiang Jinsheng never fully developed its programming and left it as it was.

It wasn’t until later, perhaps with some new purpose in mind, that he wrote a new program directly on the core program of the Forbidden Abyss, and stored the secret data package in it, creating the current appearance of the Xiao X parenting system.

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Jiang Ci’s topic shifted abruptly.

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“That code… it was the key.”

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But it was clear that Jiang Jinsheng had hidden it, and the key to unlocking it was something he had already given Jiang Ci when he was young, in the form of a code game.

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Thus, while Huo Chao’s friendship was known to many, the love he shared with Pei Changyun could only remain a secret forever.

Being generous is friendship, while being cautious is deep love.As for Jiang Jinsheng, as a father, he spent the final moments of his life paving the way for his beloved child.

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So, even when I’m no longer here, you can still safely move on alone.

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But however strong and deep this love was, it was already gone to him.

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In fact, this question should not have been asked, as it was clear that Huo Xianfeng’s parents must have passed away long ago.

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“They’re probably dead, and I was in the Holy White Tower of the Illusory God Church.”

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As for missing family love, he had never tasted it, so the loss didn’t seem to matter.

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His tone was calm at first, but when he mentioned Huo Chao, it suddenly gained warmth and a hint of a smile.

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“You know the results, he won.”

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—Huo Chao had won this round with his life.

“Actually, after losing my memory, my goal was still clear: I wanted the truth. And sooner or later, I would find it and then continue my revenge.”

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“……”

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Huo Xianfeng had always been a man with clear goals. He always acted immediately on what he wanted to do, and no one could stop him or influence every step he took.

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No, it wasn’t a sudden feeling.

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So when Jiang Ci first heard Huo Xianfeng confess, his first reaction was to doubt whether he was worthy of such a match.

But now Huo Xianfeng had spoken the answer himself: without Jiang Ci, he could still have made it this far.

Jiang Ci couldn’t refute this.

—Because it was the truth.

Without Jiang Ci, Huo Xianfeng would still pursue the truth and seek revenge at any cost. So, from a certain perspective, it seemed like Jiang Ci hadn’t changed Huo Xianfeng’s path or direction.

So, Huo Xianfeng liked him, but perhaps it was just a shallow kind of liking.

Because Jiang Ci inherently thought that he wasn’t someone worthy who could stand beside him.

This exact realization made Jiang Ci suddenly feel very sad, very, very sad.

At this point, the young man suddenly changed his tone:

“But A-Ci, Huo Chao is dead, and you have become the new bond between me and humanity.”

If it weren’t for this, Huo Xianfeng could have considered cooperating with Pei Changyun for Huo Chao’s sake. However, without Jiang Ci as a connection, their relationship wouldn’t be as subtle and harmonious as it was now.

“And—”

Huo Xianfeng gently touched his head,

“It’s a different feeling when you walk the same road alongside someone.”

Without Jiang Ci, Huo Xianfeng’s new life wouldn’t be considered a new life at all. It would just seem like he took a long, long sleep. The moment he opened his eyes when he woke up, all he saw would still be a blood-soaked darkness.

He would have remained trapped in a cycle of hatred from three hundred years ago, walking alone on a road of revenge, full of bloodthirsty, depression and pain.

“This road was dark, filthy, and full of thorns, but one day, I suddenly saw flowers blooming all along the way.”

Because Jiang Ci grabbed his hand, which meant “I will walk this path with you.”

He said to Huo Xianfeng,

[If I could give birth to a new life with you.]

[It would be such a happy thing.]

Huo Xianfeng’s tone was not deliberately emotional; rather, it was like he was earnestly stating a predetermined fact:

“So now I feel that, besides my deep-seated hatred and the heavy burden of my species, I seem to have something else to support me as I move forward.”

And at the end of the path he was traveling on, it seemed like there was more than just the final confrontation with his enemies.

Huo Xianfeng was born a King, so he couldn’t afford to hesitate, be weak, or get confused.

No weak points can exist, and even if they do exist, they must be hidden. He had to be invincible, so strong that no one could rival him. He had to become someone everyone looked up to.

Even when he woke up on Earth with nothing, Huo Xianfeng still had to desperately push forward with all his might.

Therefore, a little companionship, understanding, and sincere love is enough.

“Huo Chao once told me to embrace my own new world.”

The newly reborn King embraced the Flower he had found,

“And now, I’ve found it.”

Jiang Ci buried his face deep into the crook of the young man’s neck, unable to say a single word for a moment.

He knew this was a very, very deep and genuine confession.

But despite not using the word “love” or even saying anything directly affectionate, it was somehow more intense and passionate than the most straightforward declarations of love.

Huo Xianfeng rarely talked to him about his past. The imprisonment by the Illusionary God Sect was only ever briefly mentioned.

Yet, for someone as strong as him to describe his journey as a bloody, difficult, and painful one that he had no choice but to walk, Jiang Ci could not imagine what he had gone through.

“I will… I will always stay with you, Huo Xianfeng…”

He reached out to cup the young man’s face and kissed him with a mix of heartache and sadness.

Jiang Ci had almost entirely inherited Bai Min’s soft and kind nature. As an omega, his emotional system was more sensitive and delicate, and his ability to empathize was stronger.

He could always keenly sense the malicious or covetous gazes of those around him, forcing him to build a thick shell around himself.

This sensitivity also allowed him to quickly detect the love Huo Chao had tried so hard to hide.

And now, Jiang Ci could clearly sense the extreme pain and loneliness that Huo Xianfeng concealed beneath his casual tone.

Jiang Ci had already placed Huo Xianfeng among the most important people in his life, nestled in the softest part of his heart. He couldn’t bear to see someone he cared about so deeply hurt even a little.

Even when he first found out He Zhun might be in danger, it felt like his heart was breaking; let alone now, with the person he deeply loved, Huo Xianfeng.

“I… I will always… always be by your side.”

Jiang Ci, who had been holding back tears after learning of his mother’s death, suddenly couldn’t stop them now. He kissed Huo Xianfeng desperately, his voice choked back with sobs:

“I’ll walk with you… I’ll plant flowers for you…”

For the first time, this usually awkward child was trying so hard to straightforwardly express his love and comfort others.

“Mm.”

Huo Xianfeng responded with a gentle kiss in return.